“Congressional redistricting plan unpopular”screams the headline in today’s edition of The News & Observer. If you read into the story, you see that the following phrase needs to be added to THE END of that headline: ” … among 37 percent of respondents to a skewed poll conducted by a Democrat political consulting firm.”

According to the N&O item, 651 people (no breakdown of party registration given) were polled by Public Policy Polling, a renowned consulting firm known for aiding Democrat candidates in North Carolina and across the country. The margin of error is +- 3.8 percent, which is extremely high. Also, there is no mention of the geographic distribution of the respondents. (Respondents from The Triangle are more likely to respond differently than those from, say, Moore County. )

Only 25 percent of those polled have a favorable view of the new congressional maps, while 37 percent oppose them, and 37 percent have no opinion, according to a new survey by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-leaning firm based in Raleigh.

Republicans like the new GOP-leaning districts, Democrats oppose them, while independent voters are opposed 37/26, according to the survey.

Opposition to the Republican-backed budget is growing, the survey found. With more stories about job and program cuts, the poll found that 20 percent support the budget, and 47 percent oppose it. Even among Republicans, only 26 percent support, while 35 percent oppose it.

All of this, the poll suggested, is not helping Republican lawmakers. Only 33 percent have a favorable opinion of the GOP lawmakers, while 45 percent have a negative view.

But they don’t really think much of the Democratic lawmakers either. In a generic legislative ballot, Democrats and Republicans tied 43 percent. That is a decline for the Democrats, which last month were leading Republicans by a 46-41 percent margin.

So — 37 percent of the respondents don’t like the new congressional districts. Twenty-five percent like them, while 37 percent have NO OPINION. So, roughly 63 percent of respondents either LIKE the districts or DON’T CARE. So, Mr. (or Ms.) N&O editor, how accurate is your headline here?

The N&O also tries to bolster the Democrat attack on the budget which passed over Madame Governor’s veto. The story admits that “more stories about job and program cuts” affected the poll findings. Still, the poll finds that only 47 percent of respondents oppose the budget. Fifty three percent either like it or don’t care.

The N&O tries hard to beat on the legislature’s GOP majority, but even this Democrat poll finds that the legislature’s end product is opposed by ONLY a minority. So, what’s the problem? Where’s the news?